Hello everyone, I’m Ann.
I’m a teacher at the Ontario Science Center Science School,
seconded from the Toronto District School Board.
And I’m Christine.
I am an educator at the Ontario Science Center, on secondment from PDSB.
Please note this is a bilingual resource
and you can turn on the French or English subtitles.
Please note this is a bilingual resource
and you can choose subtitles in French or English.
Over the past few months, Ontario Science Centre educators and science school
teachers have been working together to develop curriculum-based,
hands-on resources to support learning science in grades 9-12.
These resources are in the form of a 10-15 minute video
and a companion document provided in pdf format,
both geared towards students.
Every video and written document presents at least one inquiry activity
that students can do at home with everyday materials.
As a team, educators have developed resources
for students in each strand of science in grade 9 and 10,
and for each course in grade 11 and 12 for Chemistry, Biology, Physics,
Earth and Space sciences, and Environmental sciences.
In this video one of the contributors for each video resource
will answer the following questions:
1. Where in the curriculum do you see the best place for this video and pdf resource?
2. What insights and skills will the students gain from doing the activities?
3. How did you make the activity open-ended?
4. If the accompanying document contains an extension,
what will students learn from the extension activity?
In this video you will see:
1. Oil spills, for the Biology strand, with Rocio
2. Spectrometers, for the Earth and Space sciences strand, with Teressa
And you’ll also find….
3. Static Electricity for the Physics strand, with Christine
4. Cookie Chemistry for the Chemistry strand, with Simon
Let’s get started!
Hi, I’m Rocio, a science educator at the Ontario Science Centre.
I was part of the team that developed the video and resource called “Ecosystems and Oil Spills.”
It is aimed for Grade 9 students.
The oil spill video is a great resource to use
at the beginning or in the middle of the Grade 9 biology strand.
The students will benefit from having some background knowledge (on what a healthy ecosystem looks like).
The Grade 9 biology curriculum has a focus
on examining the actions of humans on the environment.
We hope that students will be able to see the big picture.
Things like deforestation, overfishing, and climate change.
There are also connections to the Grade 9 chemistry strand!
If students have already completed the chemistry unit,
they would be able to describe the physical/chemical properties
of how an oil slick occurs or why dispersants work.
The video begins by looking at some types of interactions that occur in an ecosystem–
predation, competition, population fluctuations, food webs and food chains.
These interactions are all affected by events such as an oil spill,
and we want students to be aware that negative effects on one species in the ecosystem
have a ripple effect throughout the ecosystem.
Once students add the oil, the activity is all about open experimentation.
Having students do some research into how large oil spills
have historically been cleaned up may be useful.
There are lots of different methods that can be used both in the ocean
and in your students' kitchen,
all with varying degrees of success!
There is also an opportunity to practice data collection,
both quantitative by measuring the amount of oil removed,
and qualitative by making observations about the strategies used.
There are lots of chances to Ask, Test, Repeat in this experiment
– there is no correct answer so the question is really,
what method worked most effectively?
Like real oil spills, all methods have pros and cons.
Students will probably not be successful in removing all the oil.
That’s OK! That is a reality that conservation biologists face.
In the Deepwater Horizon oil spill almost 5.3 million litres of dispersant were used,
but the long-term environmental effects of the dispersant are still unknown.
Students should be questioning if it’s actually possible to “clean up an oil spill”
– the oil slick may be dealt with, but what are the lasting effects?
The extension for this video asks students to think about all of the animals living in
and near the water affected by an oil spill.
And the abiotic factors along the shoreline as the spill progresses.
They will see that as the oil spreads in the water, so do its effects on all components of the ecosystem.
Students now have the challenge of not just removing the oil from the water,
but cleaning the oil off of animals and plants.
If students have a feather or pipe cleaner,
they can examine the physiological effects of oil on bird feathers
– even after drying, the oil sticks to the feather/pipe cleaner.
You can ask students to look into the effect of this on the bird.
Hello, my name is Teressa and I am an educator at the Ontario Science Centre.
I was part of the team that developed the CD Spectrometer activity for the Grade 9 Earth and Space unit.
In this activity, students build a homemade spectrometer device
using an old CD, which acts like a diffraction gradient, and a cereal box.
By pointing their homemade spectrometer at different light sources, inside their homes and outside,
students were able to see a unique emission spectral pattern.
This activity highlights how astronomers are able to use light from distant celestial objects
to decipher elemental composition.
This activity is best done towards the end of the Earth and Space Science unit,
or after students have learned about the formation of the solar system (D3.2),
the composition of the planets and stars (D3.4).
Some prior knowledge of the electromagnetic spectrum, along with stellar composition,
is helpful in order for students to understand that chemical compounds and elements emit light.
Challenge your students to use their CD Spectrometers
to discover as many objects that emit a unique spectra.
Encourage them to record their results,
either by making coloured markings of the spectra lines that they observe,
or use their mobile phones to take a photograph.
Students can then compare their spectra to the answer key
and with other students' results.
This activity provides a good opportunity for students to use and improve their observation skills
when viewing different light sources through the spectrometer.
They can then deduce the chemical composition of their chosen light source
by matching their observation to the emission spectra of known chemical compounds
provided in the companion document.
We also encourage students to experiment with various light sources
to identify which elements are emitting the light.
The purpose of the spectroscope is to diffract, or split light, into different wavelengths.
As such, we start out by encouraging students to use their spectrometer
on a light source that will emit the full spectrum,
either an incandescent or LED bulb.
We feel that this is a good introduction to light theory,
which demonstrates how all the colours can be seen using the spectrometer device,
but that white light can be split up into different wavelengths, resulting in different colours.
We then have observe a fluorescent bulb.
At this point the students will notice that a full rainbow (spectra) can no longer be observed.
We use this moment as an opportunity to ask some leading questions.
What variables changed? Why was there a difference between the two bulbs?
At this point you can explain to the class that certain chemical compounds emit a distinct spectra,
allowing scientists to identify their composition.
We then encourage students to use their CD spectrometer on other light sources
to discover other spectral patterns.
It's important to note that students should not use their spectrometer
to look up at the sun.
Rather, looking at clouds can achieve the same results.
In the extension activity students can record their results
either by drawing coloured lines of the spectra they view from any given light source,
or take a photograph of the results.
They can add different coloured filters to the eye hole
to see a change in the spectral pattern.
By colouring or photographing the results,
students can achieve a creative and memorable aspect to the science activity
that they can share with their classmates.
Hi, my name is Christine.
I'm an educator at the Ontario Science Centre,
and I was part of the team that created the video and companion document
for Static Electricity.
This resource is intended for Grade 9 students.
The activities presented will help students to familiarize themselves with basic concepts
of static electricity, get some hands-on experience, and develop questions to be explored.
This video would be best suited to follow the Chemistry strand
so that students have an understanding of charges in protons and electrons.
Watching the video and doing the activities as an introduction
to the Physics strand provides students an opportunity to develop hypotheses.
and provides context from which to build meaning.
Specifically, this video provides an introduction and inquiry opportunities
for the Laws of Electric Charges, charging by friction, and grounding.
Students often don't understand how the addition or subtraction produce a charge on the material.
My colleague David came up with simple "hand-animated" representations in the video.
These animations could be another good introduction
to a lesson on drawing charge diagrams.
Students will learn how to charge objects using friction, how to test that an object is charged,
and make predictions about what combinations of materials will generate a strong charge.
At a fundamental level, students will understand that there is a hidden ‘force’ in materials.
Two objects that don’t seem to exert force on each other will exert a force when rubbed.
Students will practice observing something that challenges their model of reality and working towards a different model.
We emphasize that it really depends on what materials students have available at home
and that the way to find out what leads to good charges is to experiment.
They are encouraged to make predictions about which materials will work and then test those predictions.
Building an electroscope provides a means of quantitatively testing predictions and visualizing electric forces.
The electroscope serves as an open-ended activity, that can be used as an introduction
to a lesson about charging by contact and charging by induction, to explore conductivity, conductors and insulators,
categories of electrical properties, and variables that affect conductivity,
for example in relation to semiconductors.
This video will directly connect to the chemical and physical properties unit.
The video can be used as an introduction to the unit,
giving the students a fun and delicious introduction to some of those core concepts
of chemical and physical properties.
It can also be used at the end of the unit, connecting concepts the students have already learned in class
and provide them with an engaging and open-ended activity.
In the video we use simple experiments to demonstrate concepts of chemical and physical properties
of ingredients that you can find in your own kitchen.
The students will develop an understanding of properties through basic tests such as a density test,
a reaction to acid or a reaction to water test.
But looking at a bigger scope, the baking cookie activity will begin building the students' skill
of making precise measurements, and reading and executing recipes and procedures,
and also adjusting ratios and steps for the next experiment, very similar to a laboratory.
We used a kitchen instead of a laboratory and ingredients instead of chemicals
to make this chemistry more approachable for students.
We wanted to tackle chemistry in a safe and fun way while giving students an activity that was connected and relatable.
What better way to explore chemical and physical properties than through baking a cookie?
Discovering the chemistry of things like baking cookies or food really relates to students
since they interact with that type of chemistry on a daily basis.
We decided to keep the recipe that we have simple so it makes the activity more open-ended.
The video gives a background on what each ingredient does in the process of baking cookies.
The students are then encouraged to take that knowledge and create their own recipes.
And through the use of the scientific method, or in our case Ask, Taste, and Repeat,
we figure out what ingredients to change and what ratios also to adjust in that recipe.
We purposefully left the challenge open, and asked the students to create their own perfect recipe,
in order to move away from the cookbook recipes and instead having the students create their own
through the process of experimentation.
The companion document provides a more structured scientific method with a sample chart for the students to record observations.
Guiding experimental hints such as having students try a control cookie and experimenting with changing one variable (or ingredient) at a time.
We guide the students through some qualitative observational prompts
such as taste, softness, and chew, or if it's better/worse/different or equally good.
Engaging students remotely is the most challenging thing I’ve had to do in my career.
Science at its very core is hands-on exploration of the scientific process,
and finding meaningful ways of doing this with students at home was difficult.
The education team here at the Ontario Science Centre felt this was one area in which we might be able to help!
Using these videos as activity starters, my students used critical thinking, innovation and the iterative process
to design and conduct open inquiries while at home.
An additional bonus: these activities can be easily adapted for use in our classrooms!
[in French] Please see the rest of this video series for suggestions on how to use the student resources.
There are many ways to use these resources.
We hope you find what works best for you by using the three steps:
ask, test, and repeat.
Be sure to share your ideas with us on social media!
[in English] We hope these resources help you go forth and SCIENCE with your students!
Goodbye and good science!
[music]